Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen were summoned to the FIA race stewards’ office after an incident during at Formula 1’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
In the opening minutes of practice, Verstappen encountered a slow Williams on the approach to Turn 12, gesticulating as he passed Sainz out of the slow right-hander.
“Yeah, unbelievable, these guys. That was actually really dangerous. He even slammed on the brakes,” Verstappen reported on the radio.
The probable cause for Sainz’s impeding incident emerged soon after, when the Spaniard reported he had briefly lost radio communication due to a disconnected cable.
Both drivers were then summoned for “alleged erratic driving” in Turn 12 – Sainz for appearing to brake unpredictably, Verstappen for then almost coming to a complete stop on the racing line to demonstrate his displeasure with Sainz.
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing
Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images
Having grilled both drivers, the stewards elected to hand Sainz a warning but elected to take “no further action” against Verstappen. Sainz explained that he was warming his brakes ahead of a push lap, hence braking early on the racing line.
Sainz’s engineer had warned him more than once that Verstappen was approaching on a push lap of his own, but he failed to hear this because his radio cable had become disconnected. The stewards accepted this explanation but ruled that in such circumstances Sainz should not have been warming his brakes on the racing line.
Further mitigation came in the form of Verstappen – despite his comments on the radio – saying that while he was surprised to find the Williams running so slowly on the racing line, he did not consider the incident to be dangerous. Sainz told the stewards that he wasn’t affected by the Red Bull slowing down after he went past, hence Verstappen went unpunished.
Sainz was also investigated for “driving erratically” in a separate incident towards the end of the session in Turn 9. There it was he who was impeded, with Alpine reserve Paul Aron cruising on the racing line while Sainz approached on a flying lap.
Afterwards, Sainz slowed dramatically and appeared to crowd Aron off the road as he repassed the Williams. But the stewards, having reviewed the video evidence and heard from Sainz, accepted his explanation that he had simply aborted the lap, declaring “no further action”.
Charles Leclerc led the way in opening practice for Ferrari, ahead of Verstappen and team-mate Lewis Hamilton.
Photos from Hungarian GP – Friday
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